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African Leagues: 'Moroccan Messi' Snatches Title for Raja

Abdelilah Hafidi (2nd L) celebrates scoring for Raja Casablanca in the 2019 CAF Super Cup match against Esperance in Qatar. (AFP)
Abdelilah Hafidi (2nd L) celebrates scoring for Raja Casablanca in the 2019 CAF Super Cup match against Esperance in Qatar. (AFP)
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African Leagues: 'Moroccan Messi' Snatches Title for Raja

Abdelilah Hafidi (2nd L) celebrates scoring for Raja Casablanca in the 2019 CAF Super Cup match against Esperance in Qatar. (AFP)
Abdelilah Hafidi (2nd L) celebrates scoring for Raja Casablanca in the 2019 CAF Super Cup match against Esperance in Qatar. (AFP)

Abdelilah Hafidi, popularly known as the “Moroccan Messi” was the two-goal star as Raja Casablanca dramatically won the national championship for the first time in seven years.

His second goal against FAR Rabat in the final minute of regulation time gave the Green Eagles a 2-1 win and top place on 60 points, one more than arch rivals Wydad Casablanca.

Raja and Wydad qualify for the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League while third-place Renaissance Berkane enter the CAF Confederation Cup, the African equivalent of the Europa League.

Here, AFP Sport reports on the exciting Moroccan climax, an eventful match for Egyptian champions Al Ahly, and business as usual in Sudan.

Morocco

Needing maximum points to be certain of finishing first, Raja fell behind after 42 minutes at home to FAR when Ivorian Joseph Konadu Guede scored.

Hafidi equalized just past the hour and then snatched the dramatic winner, with both goals being created by captain Mohsine Moutaouali.

It was the 12th time Raja have been crowned champions, making them the equal second most successful club with FAR behind 20-time winners Wydad.

Wydad trailed before winning 2-1 at FUS Rabat thanks to a late Zouheir el Moutaraji goal while a Mouhssine Iajour penalty earned Berkane a 1-0 victory at Olympique Safi.

Egypt

Al Ahly had a player sent off and missed a penalty when drawing 0-0 with Pyramids in a Cairo derby between two of the top three clubs in the Egyptian Premier League table.

Assured of first place, Ahly dropped their first points in three league matches under new South African coach Pitso Mosimane since he replaced Swiss Rene Weiler.

Mosimane restored Mahmoud Kahraba and Amr al Sulaya to the starting line-up, but neither player lasted even the first half.

An injury forced Kahraba off and Al Sulaya was given a straight red card before Pyramids goalkeeper Al Mahdy Soliman saved a Mohamed Afsha spot-kick on the stroke of half-time.

Sudan

Perennial title challengers Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, will represent Sudan in the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League, although who finishes first in the Premier League remains unresolved.

Hilal have 64 points and Merrikh 62 with four matches each to play in one of the great African domestic club rivalries.

Merrikh trounced bottom club El Ahly Atbara 4-1 to reduce the lead of Hilal, who drew 1-1 with sixth-place Merrikh el Fasher.

In the struggle for third place and CAF Confederation Cup qualification, Alamal Atbara are one point ahead of Al Hilal Obied and both teams have two fixtures to fulfil.

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Sports

Tottenham Sign England Midfielder Gallagher from Atletico

Atletico Madrid's Conor Gallagher, second left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Atletico Madrid's Conor Gallagher, second left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
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Tottenham Sign England Midfielder Gallagher from Atletico

Atletico Madrid's Conor Gallagher, second left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)
Atletico Madrid's Conor Gallagher, second left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during the Spanish Super Cup semifinal match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP)

England midfielder Conor Gallagher has signed for Tottenham Hotspur from Atletico Madrid on a long-term contract, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old, who joined the Spanish side from Chelsea in 2024, made four starts in LaLiga this season. Spurs and Atletico agreed a transfer fee of approximately 34.6 million pounds ($46.60 million), according to British media.

"I'm so happy and ‌excited to ‌be here, taking the ‌next ⁠step in ‌my career at an amazing club," said Gallagher, who will be hoping a return to the Premier League will boost his chances of making England's World Cup squad.

The pressure is mounting on manager Thomas Frank with Tottenham ⁠registering one win in their last seven games across ‌all competitions.

To add to their ‍troubles, forward Mohammed ‍Kudus suffered a quad injury keeping him ‍out until April, while midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur have also been sidelined due to injuries.

Striker Richarlison also went down with what appeared to be a hamstring strain in their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa ⁠last Saturday which sealed Tottenham's exit from the FA Cup.

"Conor has captained teams so will bring leadership, maturity, character and personality to our dressing room, while his running power, pressing ability and eye for goal will strengthen us in a key area of the pitch," Frank said in a statement.

Tottenham, 14th in the Premier League standings, face ‌relegation-threatened West Ham United on Saturday.

Sports

AC Milan Coach Allegri Carries Torch as Others Complain

Football - Serie A - Fiorentina v AC Milan - Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy - January 11, 2026 AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Fiorentina v AC Milan - Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy - January 11, 2026 AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts. (Reuters)
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AC Milan Coach Allegri Carries Torch as Others Complain

Football - Serie A - Fiorentina v AC Milan - Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy - January 11, 2026 AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Fiorentina v AC Milan - Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy - January 11, 2026 AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts. (Reuters)

Massimiliano Allegri, the coach of Italian soccer side AC Milan, joined the ranks of Winter Olympics torchbearers on Wednesday, amid a row over the exclusion of former athletes that has prompted government intervention.

The torch is journeying through Italy's 110 provinces ahead of the start of the Milano-Cortina games, scheduled for February 6-22.

Allegri walked with other volunteers through the city of Borgomanero, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Milan.

Some 10,001 torchbearers have been mobilized to carry the flame, ‌wearing white ‌uniforms with a red-and-yellow pattern ‌recalling ⁠the Olympic flame.

But ‌former cross-country skiing champion Silvio Fauner is complaining that he and other Olympic medal winners have been sidelined.

"There's no respect for us champions. I consider it an incredible insult," Fauner said in an interview on Tuesday with sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I represent 10 athletes who ⁠have won 35 Olympic medals, starting with the two gold relay ‌teams of 1994 and 2006... We ‍were not involved in the ‍slightest in any Winter Olympics initiative in our ‍country. Neither torchbearers, nor ambassadors, nor any role. Nothing," he said.

Olympics organizers said in a statement Fauner had been excluded from torchbearing duties because political office holders are disqualified.

Fauner is deputy mayor of Sappada, a ski resort in the Dolomites.

In a follow-up on Facebook, the retired ⁠athlete complained of double standards, noting that a local politician was among the torchbearers in Sicily.

He said he was speaking up for "at least 15 (other) athletes who have won Olympic medals in winter sports, champions who have written the history of Italian sport and who today feel sidelined."

Italian Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, who is heavily involved in Olympics preparations, and Sports Minister Andrea Abodi announced on Wednesday an "urgent meeting" with Games organizers to deal with ‌the controversy.

In a joint statement, they said they wanted to shed light "on very baffling decisions".

Sports

LA28 Lights Coliseum Cauldron as Ticket Registration Set to Open

The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit during a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on January 13, 2026, ahead of the launch of ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. (AFP)
The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit during a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on January 13, 2026, ahead of the launch of ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. (AFP)
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LA28 Lights Coliseum Cauldron as Ticket Registration Set to Open

The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit during a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on January 13, 2026, ahead of the launch of ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. (AFP)
The LA28 Olympic cauldron is lit during a ceremonial lighting at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on January 13, 2026, ahead of the launch of ticket registration for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. (AFP)

Los Angeles Olympic organizers brought together about 300 current and former Olympians and Paralympians at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday for a ceremonial lighting of the stadium's Olympic cauldron, using the rare gathering of athletes to launch the ​public countdown to ticket sales for the 2028 Games.

Registration for LA28's ticket draw opens on Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. local time (1500 GMT), with fans able to sign up through March 18 for a chance to be assigned a time slot to buy tickets when sales begin in April.

The cauldron lighting event at the Coliseum - which hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984 and is due to stage the Opening Ceremony and track and field in 2028 - featured athletes spanning decades of competition and was billed by ‌organizers as ‌one of the largest assemblies of Olympic and Paralympic athletes ‌outside ⁠competition.

"In ​just ‌the last year, I've seen firsthand how Angelenos come together, how they rise to meet every challenge, and that spirit is unmatched," Hoover said at the event, alluding to the wildfires that devastated LA neighborhoods a year ago.

Hoover said 150,000 people have already signed up to volunteer at the Games, which organizers have billed as "athlete-centered" and accessible to all.

"That's 150,000 supporters saying I want to be a part of this, I want be a part of history, ⁠I want a be a part of LA28," he said.

"We know fans around the world are feeling the same ‌way and are hungry for their chance to get into ‍the stands to experience this once ‍in a lifetime, once in a generation, event."

TICKETS STARTING AT $28

LA28 Chair and President Casey ‍Wasserman told Reuters that ticket registration was a "major milestone" on the road to LA28.

Tickets will start at $28, with a target of at least one million tickets at that price point, and roughly a third of tickets will be under $100, he said.

Under LA28's process, registrants will be entered into a ​random draw for time slots to buy tickets. LA28 said time slots for Drop 1 will run from April 9-19, with email notifications sent ⁠March 31 to April 7. Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be included in Drop 1.

A local presale window will run April 2-6 for residents in select Southern California and Oklahoma counties, where canoe slalom and softball will be held. Paralympic tickets are due to go on sale in 2027.

On the sidelines of the event, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer and gold medal winning swimmer Janet Evans said the Olympics are a powerful way to unite people from around the globe.

"The Olympics is the greatest peacetime gathering in the world. We are lucky enough we get to bring it here to Los Angeles and experience that," she said.

Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill said he was moved to see the cauldron flame burning ‌bright in the LA sunshine.

"I didn't feel the physical warmth, but my heart fluttered a little bit," he said.

"The whole world is coming to LA28."